Managing temperature variances in plastics manufacturing

Typically there are fine margins involved with the injection moulding process, which means there’s a great need to get the process right the first time.

Temperature control is a critical aspect to the production quality and requires precision to achieve the correct process temperatures at the correct time. Unwanted temperature variances can lead to hotspots developing within the mould cavity which can in turn impact product quality, such as cracking, shrinking or warping.

A new dimension in precision control that improves manufacturing and production economies and efficiency in the plastics industry is the introduction of the innovative Flow Manifold.

Competitively priced, it guarantees the reliable distribution of high intensity cooling and temperature control across all circuits in injection moulding applications, providing highly accurate measurement, control and monitoring of fluid flow rates, from just 1 litre per minute to temperatures up to 120° Celsius.

The Flow Manifold connects to the temperature control unit (TCU) and can split the flow across a maximum of eight circuits, helping to lower production costs as well as providing real time monitoring of process performance, with alerts if the pre-set tolerance bands are exceeded.

It is corrosion-resistant and is usually ordered with the TCU but can also be retro-fitted. It has a 3.5” touch screen to offer complete visibility of all flow rates, and the data is recorded and accessible via SD card for Excel analysis.

All circuits can be controlled either individually or uniformly, if needed, from one interface; while the operator is also able to set flow and temperature limit values for each circuit to suit the individual mould tool and material being processed.

For more information on ICS Cool Energy’s range of temperature control solutions call 0800 774 7426.